square enixhttp://www.pcper.com
PC Perspectivehttp://www.pcper.com/images/podcast-logo-600x600.pngen(Oldish News) Kingdom Hearts 3 on Unreal Engine 4http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Oldish-News-Kingdom-Hearts-3-Unreal-Engine-4
<p>I did not report on this the first time because it did not seem like a credible rumor. As it turns out, they were citing <a href="http://www.famitsu.com/news/201410/07062806.html#page03">an interview with the game&#39;s director from Famitsu</a>, the Japanese video game magazine. Basically, while Square likes to make their own engine to use with their RPG projects, their Luminous Engine did not satisfy their needs so they decided to shift production to Unreal Engine 4. While it is still not scheduled to come to the PC, we know that the engine feels at home on our platform.</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><div class = "center-article-image"><a href="/news/General-Tech/Oldish-News-Kingdom-Hearts-3-Unreal-Engine-4" class="inline-image-link" title="View: square-KingdomHearts3-logo.jpg"><img src="/files/imagecache/article_max_width/news/2014-10-26/square-KingdomHearts3-logo.jpg" alt="square-KingdomHearts3-logo.jpg" title="square-KingdomHearts3-logo.jpg" class="pcper-inline" width="300" height="216" /></a></div></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><em>Image Credit: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_III">Wikipedia</a></em></p>
<p><em>As an aside, Famitsu is a surprisingly hard website to machine translate for any content after the first page. I will make a mental note to not feed written content through JavaScript in any website that I make, for the sake of international readers. I eventually had to copy and paste the text directly into Microsoft Translate. It was a pretty terrible experience, but I digress. If you wish to see the interview, do not expect your browser&#39;s built-in tools to help. Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V.</em></p>
<p>It seems pretty clear that Kingdom Hearts was <i>not</i><span style="font-style: normal"> moved to Unreal Engine 4 for PC support. That would just be silly. </span><span style="font-style: normal">More likely, their internal engine might have needed a little extra development work and, especially with the vastly different art styles of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, they moved the two release dates further apart</span><span style="font-style: normal">.</span><span style="font-style: normal"> Maybe they will even release Kingdom Hearts 3 </span><i>earlier</i><span style="font-style: normal"> than intended?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-style: normal">But, if it does come to the PC, it seems somewhat more likely that it will function better than Final Fantasy XIII does.</span><span style="font-style: normal"> That title was locked to 720p with a few odd quirks, like Esc being the equivalent of &quot;/qq&quot; despite even Alt+F4 giving a warning prompt, and that it seems to require a keyboard to close (I could not find a way to close the game with the gamepad or mouse alone).</span><span style="font-style: normal"> That said, while a tangent-to-a-tangent, I did like the option to have the original, Japanese dub. Yet again, I digress.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-style: normal">This was not the first time that Square has developed an RPG on Unreal Engine. The Last Remnant, </span><span style="font-style: normal">for the Xbox 360 and PC</span><span style="font-style: normal">, </span><span style="font-style: normal">was developed on Unreal Engine 3.</span><span style="font-style: normal"> Kingdom Hearts 3 does not have a release date, but it might be sooner than we expect (and probably much earlier than Final Fantasy XV).</span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Oldish-News-Kingdom-Hearts-3-Unreal-Engine-4" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Oldish-News-Kingdom-Hearts-3-Unreal-Engine-4#commentsGeneral Techkingdom hearts 3square enixue4unreal engine 4Mon, 27 Oct 2014 03:15:43 +0000Scott Michaud61536 at http://www.pcper.comSleeping Dogs Developer's Triad Wars Is PC Exclusivehttp://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Sleeping-Dogs-Developers-Triad-Wars-PC-Exclusive
<p>Triad Wars, set in the Sleeping Dogs universe, takes the setting into an online &quot;open-world&quot; game <a href="http://www.unitedfrontgames.com/games/triad-wars/">that is exclusively for the PC</a>. United Front, the developer of both Sleeping Dogs and this title, is <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/next-game-from-sleeping-dogs-dev-launching-in-2015/1100-6420726/">said to be partnering with Nexon</a> to make it a free-to-play game, at least last we heard. Suddenly, PC-exclusivity makes a lot of sense. The game is currently in closed beta, which they are accepting applications for, but it is set to launch in 2015.</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jQn4OvRrK0A" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>The most weird part, to me at least, is that Square Enix is still involved with the title and Nexon is mentioned nowhere (outside of the aforementioned statement by United Front&#39;s CEO&#39;s from last June). United Front is definitely the developer, okay, but how are the other two companies involved, specifically? Did Nexon get pushed out? How is Square involved, other than hosting the accounts? No clue. Perhaps this will be answered in tomorrow&#39;s Reddit AMA. We&#39;ll see.</p>
<p>Triad Wars is expected to be Free-to-Play and officially launch in 2015.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Sleeping-Dogs-Developers-Triad-Wars-PC-Exclusive" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Sleeping-Dogs-Developers-Triad-Wars-PC-Exclusive#commentsGeneral Techsleeping dogssquare enixtriad warsunited frontTue, 23 Sep 2014 03:43:55 +0000Scott Michaud61295 at http://www.pcper.comSquare Enix Interested in Final Fantasy PChttp://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Square-Enix-Interested-Final-Fantasy-PC
<p><strong>Update</strong>: Fixed a couple of points as per the comments.</p>
<p>Final Fantasy <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-19-square-enix-definitely-interested-in-bringing-future-final-fantasy-games-to-pc">might be returning to the PC</a> as its publisher, Square Enix, grows more interested in the platform. Final Fantasy VII and VIII were both available on the PC within a few months of their original PlayStation releases. Since then, Final Fantasy was basically non-existent on the platform, beyond the two MMO releases (XI and XIV).</p>
<p class="rtecenter"><div class = "center-article-image"><a href="/news/General-Tech/Square-Enix-Interested-Final-Fantasy-PC" class="inline-image-link" title="View: square-final-fantasy-7.jpg"><img src="/files/imagecache/article_max_width/news/2014-02-20/square-final-fantasy-7.jpg" alt="square-final-fantasy-7.jpg" title="square-final-fantasy-7.jpg" class="pcper-inline" width="602" height="335" /></a></div></p>
<p>Within the last year, both titles were re-released on Steam to decent sales. Yoshinori Kitase, producer for the franchise, told Eurogamer that this popularity has grabbed their attention. He acknowledged that the developer does not have a lot of experience with creating a good PC experience, but they could be very interested in the future.</p>
<p class="rteindent1"><em>It&#39;s an early stage for us. We haven&#39;t got an awful lot of experience in this field. So when we have more know-how and experience in this market we would be very interested.</em></p>
<p>Kitase also noted that, by ignoring the PC platform, their games are completely off the table in several markets. He did not mention any markets by name, but China only recently reopened its borders to Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo after banning them in 2000. In Brazil, a PS4 launched at a little over 3x the US price, after converting into USD, because of tax and other distribution issues.</p>
<p>Also, while not mentioned in the article, Square Enix has been very active in porting their back-catalog to mobile platforms. This seems to be a time of re-evaluation for the company. While they have had recent troubles with projecting sales figures, <a href="http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/09/square-enix-blames-huge-slump-in-us-sales-for-western-title-failures/">mostly with Eidos releases</a>, they have at least dodged Games for Windows Live in favor of Steam.</p>
<p>Also, ending with a pun, Final Fantasy VII supports Cloud Saves. Hehehe.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Square-Enix-Interested-Final-Fantasy-PC" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Square-Enix-Interested-Final-Fantasy-PC#commentsGeneral Techfinal fantasypc gamingsquare enixThu, 20 Feb 2014 07:40:09 +0000Scott Michaud59617 at http://www.pcper.comEidos Montreal Founder Resigns, Claims Square Enix Exhibits Lack of Leadership and Couragehttp://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Eidos-Montreal-Founder-Resigns-Claims-Square-Enix-Exhibits-Lack-Leadership-and-Cou
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/sdastous">Stephane D&#39;Astous</a>, the founder and general manager of Eidos Montreal, has officially resigned from the company. D&rsquo;Astous had some harsh comments for his now-former employer following his resignation.</p>
<p>Eidos Montreal is, of course, a company acquired in 2009 by Square Enix. Eidos Montreal is a game development company known for Deus Ex: Human Revolution (<a href="http://www.pcper.com/news/Editorial/PC-Personal-Game-Year-2011">my PC Per Game of the Year</a>), Tomb Raider, and the upcoming Thief title. Founder D&rsquo;Astous felt confident in his team&rsquo;s ability to make good games, but felt that Square Enix displayed a lack of courage and leadership that caused Square Enix&rsquo;s sales of those games to falter. The Eidos Montreal founder further indicated that there are communications issues between Square Enix and Eidos Montreal, and that Eidos Montreal has not been integrated well into owner Square Enix. He had a different idea of what should be done to return the company to profitability and the differences between D&rsquo;Astous and Square Enix&rsquo;s plans were too dissimilar.</p>
<p><a href="/files/news/2013-07-21/Thief AMD Gaming Evolved Title.jpg" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="/files/news/2013-07-21/Thief%20AMD%20Gaming%20Evolved%20Title.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 381px;" /></a></p>
<p class="rtecenter"><em>Eidos Montreal will continue development of Thief.</em></p>
<p>Specifically, Stephane D&rsquo;Astous was <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-07-23-eidos-montreal-founder-stephane-dastous-resigns-over-irreconcilable-differences-with-square-enix">quoted by Eurogamer</a> in saying:</p>
<blockquote><p>&quot;The lack of leadership, lack of courage and the lack of communication were so evident, that I wasn&#39;t able to conduct my job correctly. I realized that our differences were irreconcilable, and that the best decision was unfortunately to part ways.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Eidos Montreal will continue to develop Thief, Final Fantasy XV, and other games under new leadership. D&rsquo;Astous did express regret for not being able to be a part of Thief, but beyond the games it is apparent that D&rsquo;Astous is not happy with Square Enix&rsquo;s management of Eidos Montreal.</p>
<p><em>What do you think about D&#39;Astous&#39; departure?</em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Eidos-Montreal-Founder-Resigns-Claims-Square-Enix-Exhibits-Lack-Leadership-and-Cou" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Eidos-Montreal-Founder-Resigns-Claims-Square-Enix-Exhibits-Lack-Leadership-and-Cou#commentsGeneral Techeidos montrealgamingsquare enixthiefWed, 24 Jul 2013 08:51:59 +0000Tim Verry57980 at http://www.pcper.com